Chapter 43: Wandering the Great Yuan (Part I)

"These two battles show that the Japanese side still possessed a certain capacity for resistance," Guo Kang continued his presentation. "However, by the end of the Yuan Dynasty, this capacity had basically vanished."

"The wars with the Yuan Dynasty, though seemingly farcical, still inflicted massive destruction on the Japanese political order," he said, pointing to the islands on the map.

"Japan is a feudal country with a very low degree of centralization. The reigning Sultan must recognize the status and power of various local Emirs. These local lords bear feudal obligations to their liege lord, which the Japanese call *Hōkō*; in return, the liege lord grants them land, titles, and other feudal privileges, known as *Goon*."

"Originally, the Japanese mainly engaged in civil wars and expansionist campaigns, and the Sultan would distribute the land and wealth acquired from these wars to the lords as compensation. But in the resistance against the Yuan Dynasty, the lords exerted tremendous effort, and many suffered quite heavy losses, yet the Sultan could not even afford to compensate them, as they themselves had suffered deficits in the war. This led to the accumulation of grievances between the two sides and their ultimate explosion."

"This predicament was, I'm afraid, insoluble for the Japanese," he remarked. "In fact, every time they engaged in war with the Central Plains superpower, win or lose, the Japanese regime would inevitably suffer severe blows."

"Failure in resistance led directly to the destruction of the state; success in resistance triggered internal strife that would cause it to collapse before many years had passed, of which this recent instance is an example; and active aggression that ended in failure similarly brought about internal upheaval due to military defeat: during the Tang Dynasty, the Taika Reforms failed to be smoothly completed, and the regime was forced to make renewed concessions to various regional clans, largely because the Japanese monarch's army and prestige had been squandered in the war. Even if they took the initiative and achieved victory, it could not alter the overall strategic decline, and in the end, they would still tear themselves apart and perish due to internal and external troubles."

"Therefore, if one must draw a lesson from this war, it is that certain regions are simply destined to be hopeless. Even if they rely on their remoteness for self-preservation, they will ultimately be conquered and even annexed by other regions. This is an inevitable outcome," Guo Kang concluded. "That is my perspective."

"So, their conquest at the end of the Yuan Dynasty was only to be expected?" asked Perdikkas.

"I believe so," Guo Kang said. "Moreover, we must note that the legitimacy of the ruling authorities in Japan at the time was rather low, because the ones truly wielding power were not even the Sultan himself, but rather a family of imperial relatives by marriage."

"The founder of the Minamoto Dynasty was Sultan Yoritomo. He had a wife from the Hōjō clan, who, after his death, successively murdered the reigning Sultans and seized control of the government. This woman and her family's faction formed the core of power in later Japan."

Hearing this account, the ministers cast sideways glances at one another; some began to intentionally or unintentionally peer at the Empress, while others signaled him to stop talking.

Just as he finished speaking, Guo Kang felt a twinge of regret. Among the Greek Dowager Empresses of the Purple Tent Khanate, there were figures of a similar sort, who still left a profound psychological shadow upon everyone. Had he known it would provoke such associations, he would never have mentioned those Japanese harridans...

He hastily halted the discussion and forced the topic forward.

"Anyway, the Japanese court at the time was in utter chaos. A number of Emirs dissatisfied with the Sultan championed the Caliph to take power once more. However, the warlord factions remained powerful, and another group of warlords even supported a rival Caliph, resulting in a situation of a Northern and Southern court confronting each other in Japan. This provided a prime opportunity for the remnant forces of the Yuan Dynasty."

"The one who headed to Japan was Koke Temür, the most prominent warlord of the late Yuan Dynasty."

"In the twilight of the Yuan Dynasty, a very widespread peasant movement erupted, proclaiming the revival of the Song Dynasty. Furthermore, lacking a proper Zhao monarch, these 'Song armies' proved extraordinarily formidable; they rampaged across the majority of the Yuan territory, driving the sharp edge of their blades right into the lands south of the Desert—regions that the capitals of neither the Northern nor Southern Song had ever reached—and dealt heavy blows to the Yuan Dynasty."

"However, the rule of the Yuan had always been benevolent and deeply won the hearts of the people. At this moment of crisis, local gentry, scholars, and major landowners organized themselves to armedly protect the Great Khan, suppress the rebellious rabble, and defend their bygone good life."

"Koke Temür's army was the most crucial among them," Guo Kang pointed to the center of the Serica region. "His subordinates were primarily local militia forces from the Henan region."

"I recall the regime in Java originated in much the same way, didn't it?" Autolycus recalled the previous topic.

"Yes, it was dominated by these people as well. However, they were armed forces from Jiangnan, with many maritime merchants among them," Guo Kang nodded. "And it wasn't just those two. There was another major warlord, Bolod Temür, who had long vied with Koke Temür in a stalemate; his subordinates were men from Sichuan, known as the 'Sichuan Army.' Additionally, there were figures like Li Sizqi, who had previously followed Koke Temür's adoptive father and later broke away independently—these were from the Guanzhong region... In short, they were everywhere."

"These warlords not only suppressed the peasant armies but also continuously fought among themselves, thus giving the Zhu Yuanzhang faction in the Huai River region the opportunity to develop and grow. By the time the warlords realized it, it was already too late. After multiple battles between the two sides, Koke Temür was driven to the northwest, while the Dadu court fled to Yingchang, facing a thorny strategic dilemma."

"At this juncture, he had two viable routes. One was to remain in the northwest and continue fighting the Ming Dynasty," Guo Kang pointed to the locations of Gansu and Shaanxi. "Here, leaning against the lands south of the desert and the northwest, he could continue to confront the Ming Dynasty."

"The other route was relocation. This was also the mindset of the Yuan court," he pointed to the area stretching from western Liaoning to the Northeast. "The court hoped he would lead his troops through the lands south of the desert, support the Shangdu region, and establish a base there. This area similarly backed onto the lands south of the desert, and with the remnants of the Liaoyang Province and the Eastern Princes to support it, the conditions were somewhat better than those in the northwest."

"In theory, the court's plan was more prudent, but the Northeast region was already occupied territory with masters of its own. Koke Temür was ostensibly a Yuan general, but in reality, he was an independent warlord; abandoning his own territory to rush over there would inevitably leave him subject to others, so he still leaned toward the former option."

"At this moment, however, the situation shifted once again."

"Previously, Koke Temür's younger sister had pursued anti-Yuan folk societies all the way to the Kunlun Mountains region." He drew a circle around the Western Regions part of the map to indicate the location to everyone. "The problem, however, was that the Kunlun Mountains fell within the territory of the Chagatai Khanate."

"The Chagatai lineage had long been estranged from the Yuan Dynasty, repeatedly participating in anti-Yuan alliances among the various Mongol Khanates, and had only temporarily compromised due to the overwhelming military might of the Yuan. This kind of cross-border law enforcement further provoked them, leaving the Khans of the Chagatai lineage immensely dissatisfied. At that time, Khan Tughlugh Timur of Eastern Chagatai had just conquered Transoxiana and was able to free up his forces, whereupon he used this incident to reinforce troops to the east and cast a covetous eye on the Yuan borders."

"By the time the Yuan Dynasty lost Dadu, Khan Tughlugh Timur had already passed away, and the powerful minister Qamar ad-Din had seized control of the regime. Yet Qamar ad-Din's legitimacy was widely questioned by the lords, and his position was quite unstable, driving him to constantly resort to every possible means to bolster his authority. The current situation happened to present him with an opportunity."

"Consequently, Qamar ad-Din began reaching out to the Ming Dynasty, attempting to gain legitimacy from the new suzerain, while demanding that the lords of the various Chagatai factions dispatch troops to support his campaign against the rebellious factions of Kublai's line and restore the orthodox legitimacy of the Khanate, thereby claiming the moral high ground."

"Koke Temür soon learned of this development and felt deeply unsettled by it. With no other choice, he had to abandon his plan to flee to the northwest, turned toward the Northeast, and went to join the Yuan court."